"Why not try to borrow?" Tao Wen asked.

"None of my friends are doing very well financially, either," Cheng Quan replied with a wry smile. "They all have to nurture their own flying swords as well, and I can't bring myself to ask for money from them."

Tao Wen slurped down a large mouthful of yangchun noodles, then began chewing on some pickled vegetables and said, "I recall that I once told you that I can help you once with something, regardless of what it is. Why not ask for my help now?"

"I was thinking that I would save it so that when I'm able to leave the city walls to fight on the southern battlefields, I can ask you to save my life once," Cheng Quan replied with a grin. "Right now, the problem that I'm facing is just a matter of money, and my life is surely more important."

"I'm glad to hear that you have your priorities correct," Tao Wen remarked with a nod of approval.

"Besides, you didn't have any money before, either, Uncle Tao," Cheng Quan said with a wide grin.

Tao Wen chuckled. "That's true."

He then began communicating with Cheng Quan through his mind's lake, telling him, "I can recommend a job for you and issue you a grain rain coin in advance. What do you say? I'm not the one making this arrangement; it's the second shopkeeper. He says that you look like an honest and simple guy, so you'd be well-suited for the role."

Cheng Quan was rather perplexed upon hearing this, and he asked, "What's the role? Is he hiring an employee for the wine shop? It doesn't look like they need any extra staff here. The shop isn't very big, and Die Zhang and Zhang Jiazhen are already doing a good job. Besides, even if I'm willing to help him, heaven knows how long it'll take for me to earn enough money."

"The second shopkeeper was certainly right about you being honest and simple," Tao Wen sighed in a resigned manner.

After discussing the matter in secret for a while longer, Cheng Quan chugged down a large mouthful of wine to steel his resolve, then gave a firm nod as he made his decision. He was going to do it!

Tao Wen recalled what Chen Ping'an had told him before, and he regurgitated Chen Ping'an's warning, declaring, "There are rules when it comes to gambling, even for the bookmakers, so if you let your loyalty to your friends get in the way of business, then you're not going to be given this opportunity again."

Cheng Quan nodded in response.

Not long after Cheng Quan's departure, Qi Jinglong and the others also left the wine shop.

Chen Ping'an strode over to Tao Wen with a bowl of wine and a smile on his face, then asked, "You're still drinking such cheap wine after making such massive profits, Sword Immortal Tao? How about you pay for everyone's wine today?"

Tao Wen thought about it for a moment, then decided that it hardly mattered, yet just as he was about to agree, Chen Ping'an hurriedly began communicating with him through his mind's lake.

"Don't agree! Just say that regardless of how much everyone drinks today, you'll pay for only half of everyone's wine bill, no more and no less. Otherwise, my plan will completely fall through. Right now, everyone is suspecting that we colluded with each other to screw over everyone else. However, I can't just pretend not to know you, as that would be very suspicious in itself. Hence, we have to sow a seed of doubt and ambiguity in their heads, and only then can we continue our business relationship."

Tao Wen scoffed through his mind's lake. "What the hell are you even talking about? What's going through that head of yours all day? If you dedicate all of this thought and effort to your cultivation, you'd be a sword immortal in no more than ten years!"

Despite his gripes, Tao Wen still played along, declaring that he was willing to pay for half of everyone's wine bills within five flagons. He proclaimed that he was doing so as a gesture of gratitude to everyone for placing bets at his betting stations. However, beyond the fifth flagon of wine, each person would have to pay for themselves in full.

In his words, "If you have the money, then drink as much as you like. If you don't, then piss off back home and drink some water instead!"

Chen Ping'an was very impressed with Tao Wen. Not only was he a sword immortal, but he clearly also had exceptional aptitude as a bookmaker.

While sipping on his bowl of wine, Cheng Ping'an asked through his mind's lake, "Did Cheng Quan agree to the offer?"

Tao Wen set down his bowl and chopsticks, then called out to Zhang Jiazhen for another flagon of wine before asking, "I'm sure you're aware of why I'm not going out of my way to help Cheng Quan, right?"

"I am," Chen Ping'an replied. "You don't want him to be able to leave the city walls to fight on the southern battlefields too soon. In fact, I daresay you'd rather see him continue to be mediocre for the rest of his life. Given his personality, he's not ever going to do anything particularly egregious, and while he's constantly fretting over things like money and his lack of cultivation aptitude, at the very least, that's better than ending up dead.

“Even if I've been living under a rock this past year, I would've still heard about what happened between you and your past Dao partner. Everyone speaks without reservation on the Sword Qi Great Wall, and that's both a good thing and a bad thing. There are barely any secrets here, even when it concerns the private matters of sword immortals."

"Let's not talk about that stuff," Tao Wen said with a dismissive wave.

"Why not just bet on yourself to lose?" Tao Wen suddenly asked. "If you do that, you could earn at least several dozen grain rain coins, and you'd be completely bankrupting quite a few sword immortals in the process."

"That's what I was initially planning to do, but Ning Yao told me not to lose, so I had no choice!" Chen Ping'an sighed. "For a few dozen grain rain coins, I'd be beaten to within an inch of my life, and I won't be able to return to the Ning Manor for at least a year! I'd have to sleep at the wine shop every night!"

Tao Wen erupted into boisterous laughter as he patted Chen Ping'an on the shoulder and said, "There's no shame in being afraid of your wife. Keep it up, young man!"

Chen Ping'an smiled and touched his wine bowl to Tao Wen's.

"It's not actually a good thing to be overly empathetic to others, Chen Ping'an," Tao Wen mused.

"Someone who's capable of saying something like this should keep their thoughts to themselves," Chen Ping'an said with a smile.

Tao Wen faltered slightly upon hearing this, then smiled and nodded in response.

After a brief silence, he changed the subject, declaring, "I told Cheng Quan the rules that bookmakers have to follow." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Chen Ping'an swirled around the wine in his bowl and replied, "It's a good thing if one is always able to abide by the rules of the trade. However, if there comes a day when he's willing to break the rules for a certain friend, even though he's always followed the rules up to that point, then that shows that Cheng Quan is someone worth befriending.

“If that happens, then you won't have to lend him money to help him in his cultivation; I'll do it in your stead. Before I received the nickname of second shopkeeper, I once had two other more fitting nicknames in the Majestic World: Chen Haoren and walking charity!"

Tao Wen pointed at the bowl in Chen Ping'an's hand and scoffed. "Take a good, hard look at yourself before you say such shameless things."

Chen Ping'an looked down at his own reflection in the wine, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Who's this handsome young man?"

***

Fatty Yan stood outside his father's study, an uneasy look on his face.

Yan Zhuo's father had heard about the sparring match outside the Ning Manor, and he had given Yan Zhuo a grain rain coin to place a bet on Chen Ping'an winning with a single punch.

Even though Yan Zhuo was extremely confident in Chen Ping'an, he still felt like this was going to be a complete waste of money. His father, Yan Ming, had told him that it didn't matter if he lost the bet, so after some consideration, he decided to exercise his own discretion and place a bet on Chen Ping'an coming out on top somewhere between three and ten punches into the battle.

In addition to this grain rain coin, he also bet two lesser heat coins out of his pocket money on Chen Ping'an emerging victorious within a hundred punches. However, the sequence of events that followed had Yan Zhuo completely flabbergasted. First, Chen Ping'an had proposed a battle format that placed him at a massive disadvantage, yet somehow, his opponent turned out to be even more inexplicable than he was, surrendering after just a single punch, one that was landed by her, no less.

At least cop a few punches before you concede! Aren't you supposed to be a Vajra Body Tier martial artist with an exceptional foundation, just like Chen Ping'an?

Yan Zhuo didn't want to come to his father's study, but he had no choice. Even if he were to completely empty his coffers and borrow some money from his mother, he still wouldn't be able to scrounge together enough money to make up for the large sum of grain rain coins that his father should've won. Thus, he could only steel himself for a dressing down, or perhaps even a beating.

"You lost the money, did you?" Yan Ming asked without even raising his head.

Yan Zhuo gave an affirmative response.

"Was it possible that Chen Ping'an could have intentionally fixed the battle to lose on purpose for profit?" Yan Ming asked.

"There's no way he would've done that," Yan Zhuo replied in a confident voice. "Chen Ping'an isn't competitive at all when it comes to battles against cultivators, but he's extremely competitive when it comes to martial arts. He would be very resistant to the idea of losing even to a Far Roaming Tier martial artist, let alone Yu Juanfu, who's at the Vajra Body Tier, just like him."

"Do you think Chen Ping'an stands to benefit at all from fighting in sparring matches against Yu Juanfu, even if he wins?" Yan Ming asked.

"I wasn't sure in the beginning, but after hearing Chen Ping'an's conversation with Yu Juanfu, I learned that Chen Ping'an doesn't think their sparring matches will be of any benefit to him at all," Yan Zhuo replied with a shake of his head.

"In that case, how can he get Yu Juanfu off his back as quickly as possible?" Yan Ming asked. "Even now, do you still not understand why Chen Ping'an raised that proposal? If the answer is no, then that grain rain coin of mine will truly have gone to waste. Make sure to write down the losses that you incurred from your misplaced bet and repay me over time. Do you really think Chen Ping'an intentionally allowed her to throw the first punch to concede an advantage?

“Are you still under the impression that Yu Juanfu surrendered the sparring match on a whim? Let me tell you this: if Yu Juanfu had stood still and taken a punch from Chen Ping'an like Chen Ping'an had done for her, she would be so utterly humiliated that she wouldn't even have the heart to face him in the next two sparring matches. Bai Lianshuang was once a tenth tier martial artist, while Nalan Yexing was once an Immortal Tier swordsman.

“Technically, they're supposed to be nothing more than servants of the Ning Manor, but do you really think that all they do is keep the rooms clean and prune the trees? They will be sure to teach Chen Ping'an everything they possibly can, and Chen Ping'an will be sure to learn everything that he can, and he'll do so extremely quickly and well.

“That's not even to mention the instruction that he's receiving from Zuo You. You've already made very good use of your time over the past year, but in comparison, this past year has been like three or five years for Chen Ping'an from a developmental perspective."

"I want to spar with sword immortals as well, but our clan's chief guest elder has always looked down on me, and even now, he's still unwilling to instruct me in swordsmanship!" Yan Zhuo protested in a pitiable manner. "I've begged him so many times to teach me, but he doesn't even bother to acknowledge me!"

"Why didn't you come to me and ask me to put in the request for you?" Yan Ming asked. "Are you not aware that I'm the most authoritative figure in the Yan Clan? Since when have I, the clan leader, become so inept that even a mere sword immortal guest elder of the clan would refuse to do my bidding?"

"I don't dare to come to you!" Yan Zhuo exclaimed as he began to tear up. "I'm scared that you'll call me useless, that I'm a good-for-nothing who brings shame to the Yan Clan! You always say that I'm a fat pig that the demons in the south would love to sink their teeth into... Why would I come to you to ask for anything when all I get in return is humiliation?"

Yan Ming's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't say anything.

After getting all of that off his chest, Yan Zhuo turned away to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Only then did Yan Ming break his silence, instructing, "Go tell him to teach you swordsmanship. Tell him that he's to teach you everything that he knows without withholding anything."

Yan Zhuo gave an affirmative response, then ran out of the study.

In a corner of the study, the air rippled slightly, after which an old man appeared and smiled as he asked, "You just had to make me the bad guy, didn't you?"

"I pay you so much every year, so of course you have to be the bad guy," Yan Ming said with a chuckle. "I certainly can't make myself the villain in the eyes of my son."

The old man shook his head and prepared to return to his place of cultivation in the Yan Manor. After all, Yan Zhuo was currently on his way there.

However, a thought then occurred to him, and he remarked, "You know, it was very hurtful to hear you refer to me as a mere sword immortal guest elder just now."

Yan Ming made a gesture with his head, and the little spirit that was responsible for turning the pages of the book that he was reading immediately knew what he wanted. It leaped into a brush holder on the desk, then emerged with a pair of grain rain coins before hurling them at the old man.

The old man tucked the grain rain coins up his sleeve, then smiled and said, "Never mind. It suddenly doesn't feel so hurtful, after all."

Yan Ming hesitated momentarily, then said with an awkward expression, "Teach him to the best of your abilities, but also make sure to go as easy on him as you can."

The old man vanished from the spot in a flash.

There were some things that Yan Ming had chosen not to reveal to Yan Zhuo.

For example, the Yan Clan wanted to recruit a certain sword immortal as a new guest elder. The sword immortal in question once had a daughter, whose nickname was Spring Onion.

His daughter had a bright future ahead, but she suffered an untimely and extremely horrific demise on the southern battlefield. Her father had been trapped in the heat of battle at the time, and he desperately rushed to her side to try and save her, suffering severe injuries in the process, but was still unable to make it in time.

Driven insane by grief, the girl's mother constantly repeated the same question to her husband day and night, asking him why he couldn't save their daughter when he was a sword immortal.

***

A man returned to his home, where he lived alone. Earlier, he had ordered three extra bowls of yangchun noodles from the wine shop, and they were stored in the small world up his sleeve. He pulled out the bowls of noodles one after another before placing them onto the table, then fetched three pairs of chopsticks and set them down beside the bowls. After that, he began slurping down his bowl of noodles.

One of the bowls of yangchun noodles on the table had a bit more diced spring onions than the other two.

***

Under the dim light of dusk, Chen Ping'an was sitting on the wine shop's doorstep, leaning against the door frame with his hands tucked up their opposite sleeves. Business was booming for his wine shop, while the other restaurants and wine shops in the distance were not doing so well.

He had heard that after the woman from the affluent clan on the Middle Earth Divine Continent left the Mirage Market, the sword immortal who had challenged her Upper Five Tiers Militarian cultivator servant was none other than Tao Wen.

Normally, the stories of others wouldn't leave all that deep an impression on Chen Ping'an, and he would often forget about them after drinking a few flagons of wine and eating a few bowls of yangchun noodles. However, Tao Wen's story was one that stuck with Chen Ping'an, and for some reason, it always made him think of Clay Vase Alley back home. The constant recollection of Tao Wen's tragic life story made him feel terrible, and that was why he had raised that question to Ning Yao.

All of the swordsmen on the Sword Qi Great Wall, regardless of age or gender, were waiting to die. So many people had perished here that no one wanted to remember anyone's passing anymore.

What right did that insolent woman from the Middle Earth Divine Continent have to come here and preach about morality and human rights?

Why did she not take the time to see the entirety of the Sword Qi Great Wall before making her judgment on this place? She wasn't being asked to sacrifice herself atop the city walls, so the least that she could do was see more and think more before she spoke. Was that so hard?

While toiling away in the shop, Zhang Jiazhen took a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and that was when he noticed Chen Ping'an leaning against the door frame, staring off into the distance with a look on his face that Zhang Jiazhen had never seen before.

He seemed both sad and disappointed.